Overcoming Speaking Jitters; Fear of Greater Knowledge

Last week I spent 90 minutes with the current cohort of MBA students at the University of New Brunswick – Saint John (https://www.unb.ca/saintjohn/business/mba/). The program is a fast paced one-year version. I completed these same studies in 2013. 

I spoke with the students about public speaking fundamentals and offered some tips and shortcuts, including some that should help with their group presentations. I also encouraged them to be opportunistic and to mine their experience for personal stories they can use to enhance their presentations. 

Life Experience

Great speakers draw upon their life experience and especially customer service experiences for relevant content. Sometimes these experiences can seem trivial at first glance but can be funny, useful and illustrative for presentations. Any story you recount to a friend or colleague with some degree of passion could become a reusable speaking asset. 

Managing Jitters 

During the question-and-answer section, a young woman asked how she can overcome pre-presentation jitters. After the formal session we talked some more and she indicated she has speaking experience, and has confidence in her skills, but she still feels strong jitters before taking a stage. Further, she said she is usually quite nervous that someone in the audience will ask her a question that stumps her, or someone will make a point to showcase his knowledge, perhaps perceived as superior knowledge.

 

Tips for Managing Jitters 

Here are some tips if you feel jitters before a presentation;

1. Jitters are normal

Many people will avoid situations when they must stand before an audience and present. Speakers will feel anxiety because they want to do well. It’s normal to have performance anxiety. Prior to a big game, professional athletes will often be physically ill, but once the game starts, their skills engage and they simply play the game. Be confident in your skills and preparation.   

2. Know precisely what you’ll talk about

Make your plan. Know your key points. I advise that you do not memorize any element of your speech, expect perhaps the structure. It’s fine to take a page of key points on stage that you wish to address. Don’t worry about the precise words you’ll use, or precise sentences.  Be confident in the key points you wish to speak about, and your ability to speak to each.

 

3. Give yourself a pep talk before you hit the stage 

Be confident that you’re prepared, you trust your plan, that you can speak to your key points, and then proceed. You know your content.

4. Questions outside your experience 

If someone asks a question outside your experience, frame your answer around your observations, and indicate the question is outside your familiarity. This could sound like “thank you for the question.  My experience/research focused on the three areas I’ve discussed, and while interesting, your question/scenario is outside my experience/research.” 

If you expect the questioner may persist, you should likely end your response with “I see we have another question over here.” 

Conclusion 

It’s normal to have jitters before speaking to an audience.  You want to perform well and deliver value. These few points should help you manage your jitters.